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Hyundai’s all-new Tucson V6 AWD (All Wheel Drive) raises the bar in
Australia’s booming compact SUV market with an armoury of exclusive amenities
and safety features, taut handling, new generation refinement and a crisp new
style, all offered for typically Hyundai benchmark value for money.
As the only V6 in its sub-class, Tucson brings the torque, smoothness and
quiet of a bigger engine with six cylinders compared with its four-cylinder
competitors, while electronic Traction Control with ABS augments the extra road
holding safety margin of its on-demand, lockable all-wheel-drive system.
Tucson also offers unrivalled interior seating flexibility for occupants and
gear stowage—an 8’10” (2.7m) surfboard stows in-cabin, protective exterior
cladding on doors and wheel arches, lockable on-demand all-wheel-drive with
limited slip rear differential and on the Tucson Elite, power sunroof and for
the first time on a Hyundai, six airbags.
Appealing particularly to young, active singles, couples or families,
Tucson’s clean, sharp sculpturing and stance on the road exude an appropriately
subtle hint of off-road toughness with short overhangs, high ground clearance,
the longest wheelbase in its class and consequent best or near best-in-class
aggregate legroom front and rear and finished off with dual chrome oval
tailpipes out back.
Adding further ease to the enjoyment of driving Tucson is standard
Selectronic adaptive automatic transmission with clutchless sequential manual
mode for when the driver wants more gear selection control.
Tucson complements its slightly larger Santa Fe stablemate in extending
Hyundai’s SUV model choice across more demographic groups of drivers and
families.
Amenities in Tucson not normally found on entry level models in this class
include ABS with EBD (Anti-skid Brake System with Electronic Brakeforce
Distribution), 16” alloy wheels including the spare wheel, cruise control,
MP3-capable CD audio, a cargo area cover and elastic net, windscreen wiper
de-icer, roof rails, front and rear fog lights, pollen filter and an overhead
console with sunglasses bin and map lights.
Urban-savvy Tucson touchstones include a park-friendly 4.33 metre overall
length, ideal step-in height to moderately elevated seating, a plethora of
storage facilities and cupholders, good all round vision and ideal rear stowage
access. Tucson’s tailgate shelters from rain, requires less space and effort to
open than a spare wheel-laden offside-hinged door and in very tight confines,
boot space is accessible through its separately openable window and a lift-up
cargo cover panel inside.
Taut traction
On the move, Tucson’s delights with taut, responsive
handling allied with good ride comfort and a new generation level of interior
refinement and quietness. Australian Tucsons adopt a sportier suspension
calibration Hyundai specially developed for Tucsons marketed in Europe and
like-minded motoring nations which prefer driver-enjoyment dynamics to a softer
riding alternative offered elsewhere.
On more slippery surfaces, Tucson’s Borg-Warner-sourced electronically
controlled on-demand all wheel drive system offers instant and automatic engine
torque transfer sharing from the front wheels to any of the wheels with the best
traction. Drive to the rear wheels is via an electro-mechanical multi-clutch
plate ITM (Interactive Torque Management) unit mounted immediately ahead of the
rear differential, which itself is a Torsen-type mechanical limited slip unit to
optimize rear wheel traction when needed to supplement drive to the front
wheels.
On very slick or heavy going surfaces, the driver can lock in 50/50 front and
rear drive and disable the Traction Control (to preserve wheelspin and momentum)
with the touch of two adjacent dash buttons. As car speed accelerates from 30 to
40km/h, the 50/50 lock progressively reverts to on-demand AWD
Pricing
Tucson V6 AWD debuts at $29,990*, the only V6-powered SUV
under $30,000 and a sequential-manual mode automatic at that. As well as the
standard features above, this also includes standard pollen-filtering
air-conditioning, remote entry central locking with alarm, power windows with
driver’s glass one-touch lowering, dual front airbags, electric door mirrors and
a raft of other detail conveniences.
Tucson Elite V6 AWD is remarkable value at $32,490*, adding front seat side
(thorax) airbags, side window (curtain) airbags, a power tilt/slide sunroof,
leather steering wheel rim and gearshift knob, trip computer, tweeters, dressier
six-spoke alloy wheels with wider and lower profile 235/60 Bridgestone Turanza
tyres, ambient light-sensitive headlight control, more luxurious cloth seat trim
and a gloss brushed alloy look centre dash surround and shifter plinth.
Tucson Elite S models are distinguished by their prestigious
all-body-coloured bumpers and side cladding finished only in Aqua Silver
(light-medium green mica) or New Mid Silver (light gold metallic) from September
and are priced at $33,200*.
Tucson is offered in seven sophisticated exterior colours and grey or beige
interior trim matched with them. Noble White and Ebony Black are both solid
tones while the three metallic and two mica finishes add $215 and $225 extra
respectively, Elite S excepted.
*recommended retail plus on-road costs
Like all Hyundais, Tucson offers owners the quality assurance of Australia’s
best continuously offered factory new car warranty, five years or 130,000km.
Tucson tu-morrow
Tucson spearheads the next stage of Hyundai’s
revitalization in Australia, the marque already selling 45 per cent more cars,
SUVs and (again) people-movers in the first half of 2004 than in the same period
in 2003, some months claiming fourth passenger sales spot after the biggest
local makers.
“Hyundai’s new ‘Future Driven’ philosophy is exemplified by Tucson in every
respect,” said Theo van Doore, Director of Sales & Marketing for Hyundai
Motor Co Australia.
“Tucson is the most thoroughly researched car we have ever launched, and both
European and Australian motorist clinics warmed to Tucson, preferring its style,
size, powertrain and intelligent interior flexibility to CRV and RAV4 four-door.
“Our main target for Tucson is 25 to 30 year-old singles and ‘DINKs’ couples,
urbane, successful and with the active lifestyles that will be best-in-class
catered for by Tucson’s exceptional user-friendliness.
“For these buyers, as their first-new-car-as-SUV, Tucson is the best package
on the market and it just happens to cost less as well.
“Everyone who has driven some distance in a Tucson is extremely impressed
with its detail design delights and its very refined yet rewarding driving
experience,” Mr van Doore said.
Global concept
Tucson has been conceived to satisfy the compact,
road-oriented SUV market which is the boom segment in SUVs worldwide, especially
across Europe where buyers highly rate sensible exterior size and economy of
operation as much as their acknowledged style sense and artful enjoyment of
skilled driving.
Hyundai expects to sell around 200,000 Tucsons by 2006, with up to 65,000 of
these destined for the European markets. This demand will have some initial
effect on supply to Australia, restricting sales to around 200 per month for the
first few months at least.
Hyundai’s slightly larger Santa Fe V6 AWD will be re-positioned above Tucson
when refreshed soon, and will mainly target families and slightly older 40s
buyers.
Exterior
The exterior challenge of the Tucson was to combine the
expressiveness that SUV buyers associate with traditionally larger vehicles,
with urban style.
The result is a crisply modern, cleanly styled car with well defined
character lines, yet retaining some traditional Hyundai styling cues.
At the front, two pronounced ridge lines converge slightly as they run
forward along the hood and waterfall down framing the black mesh grille
aperture. The front bumper continues the line downwards to establish the width
of the lower air intake grille mouth. Circular foglights are set into the flat
bumper surface directly underneath the headlight assembly.
Tucson’s side profile is dominated by a strong creaseline running straight
back above the door handles and the protective cladding on the lower doors and
around the wheel arches which integrate with the front and rear bumpers.
Clinics judged Tucson’s tail a cute butt and the car’s best look, a nice
touch considering it’s the most viewed aspect of a car in traffic. A clean,
sophisticated look derives from the unencumbered tailgate and the composite
taillights with their jewelled faceted-reflectors while the dual chrome
tailpipes tell of Tucson’s V6 performance potential.
Alloy 16” x 6.5” wheels feature on all Tucson models, the entry level model’s
five flat spoke design framed in 215/65 tyres while Elite rolls on a slightly
more ornate six-spoke wheel shod with meatier 235/60 Bridgestone Turanza tyres.
Tucson’s longest-in-class 2630mm wheelbase, its short overhangs and raised
ground clearance bestow a purposeful presence on the road. Its cropped 810mm
rear overhang allows an exceptionally steep departure angle for the class of
almost 32 degrees and permits a 150kg towball mass, matching its 1500kg braked
trailer tow capacity.
The fixed mini-antenna on the rear roof is specially positioned to offer
optimum reception and clarity, with minimum intrusion into the roof space.
Overall, Tucson shows extremely fine proportions, which disguise the actual
roominess of the interior, key images being strong, sporty and urban.
Smart seats
Tucson’s ‘Space Wizard’ seating is an inviting and
intuitively innovative design and offers some uniquely convenient
configurations. In the 60/40 split rear seat, each backrest folds forward to
virtually flat and level with the boot floor in a single, one-hand action which
also lowers the seat cushion underneath, thus providing between 1.635 and 1.855
metres of flat load length right up to the front seat backs, depending on front
seat adjustment, enough for a 26” mountain bike to be laid on the all-wipeable
load surface. No head restraints need be removed in any of these configurations.
The rear floor also lifts out for washing down.
Even more in-cabin load length is available via another Tucson exclusive, The
left front seat backrest also folds forward to horizontal, which then not only
acts as a work table with its hard mostly flat surface and elastic net pocket,
but greatly extends the in-cabin load length to a diagonal maximum of 2.7 metres
(8’10” in Malibu speak) or 2.49m (8’2”) along the cabin left side, clear of the
front passenger airbag door and with the rear seat still two-thirds erected. The
latter is longer and flatter than in Outlander whose seatbacks don’t fold flat.
Tucson’s step-in height of 717mm is near ideal for most people and the
seating pleasantly but not overly elevated for vision in traffic. Anatomically
shaped and padded front seats offer good support on long trips and, with their
vertically adjustable head restraints removed, the backrests recline to flat,
making a bed with the rear seat cushion.
The driver’s seat cushion adjusts for height and tilt and addresses a
vertically adjustable steering wheel and a low dash panel with the instrument
dials including a tachometer tightly binnacled in front of the driver, in which
the large speedo is central, where it needs to be given the level of speed
surveillance in Australia.
Interior
The athletic appearance clothes a spaciously comfortable,
but fully functional interior. Traditional Hyundai virtues, such as high
equipment levels, exceptional value for money and long lasting quality, add a
further depth of appeal to an extremely versatile and stylish lifestyle
companion. It is also a further manifestation of Hyundai’s determination to
build vehicles with high “European Value”.
The feeling in the interior is also very much a part of the Tucson appeal,
with sophisticated fabrics and quality materials combining to provide an
atmosphere that is both reassuring and comfortable, yet impressively practical
for when the going gets tougher.
Storage places abound, such as the small lipped trays under each door pull,
just right for a mobile phone, the double bin in the centre console whose padded
elbow rest top raises to accommodate tall front occupants. There are four
retractable shopping bag hooks, two cupholders each front and rear, three 12v
points, a flock-lined coin drawer and coin rack, pockets with bottle holders on
all doors, an overhead sunglasses console, two wet compartments under the rear
floor by the alloy spare wheel and a brolly shelf under the steering column, to
name a few. The lit glovebox even has a slide-in divider as well as a book
retaining elastic strap. And there’s a drawer under the left front seat.
Chassis and Performance
A key and unique feature of Tucson in its
sub-class is the smooth and effortless performance delivered by its 2.7 litre,
all-alloy, quad cam, 24-valve ‘Delta’ V6 engine, driving through an
electronically adaptive four-speed automatic transmission with Selectronic
sequential clutchless manual mode. Maximum torque is 241Nm at 4000rpm and power
peaks at 129kW at 6000rpm.
Indicative acceleration is 10.5 seconds 0-100kph and 17.2 seconds from rest
to 400 metres. ADR 81 combined fuel use is 11 litres/100km on standard unleaded
petrol.
Tucson’s all independent coil spring and gas damper suspension sports
anti-roll bars front and rear, MacPherson struts up front and multi-links at the
rear. The European calibration is biased to responsive handling and fuses
on-road ride comfort with sure footed rough terrain capability. Power assisted
rack and pinion steering via the tilt-adjustable steering wheel ensures
precision, complemented by ease of parking and a compact 10.8m turning circle
diameter between kerbs.
In terms of all round ability, the Tucson is designed with minimal front and
rear overhang, a prerequisite for satisfactory off-road performance. However
road performance has been enhanced by the adoption of the state-of-the-art
Borg-Warner Electronic InterActive Torque Management four-wheel-drive system.
This routes up to 100 percent of the available power to the front wheels. As
road conditions or torque demand changes, the system automatically diverts up to
50 percent of the available power to the rear wheels. The system monitors
throttle position, front wheel angle and slippage and as surface conditions
change, power is automatically routed to the wheels with the best traction.
There is also a dashboard-mounted 4WD lock button that allows the driver to
manually “lock” the transmission into 4WD for a 50/50 torque split. In addition
to this, Tucson features switchable traction control and four-channel ABS with
EBD applied to power-assisted 280mm vented front discs with pad wear sensors and
rear 284mm solid discs to maximize safety and fully exploit the potential and
performance of this drive system.
Safety
Tucson’s active safety is provided by its agile handling,
ABS-equipped brakes, electronic traction control, its on-demand AWD system and
good vision.
Backing up is Tucson’s computer designed rigid cabin structure protected by
impact absorbing front and rear ends, load diffusion paths, four body rollover
hoops and door-stiffening side impact protection beams. Tucson has dual front
airbags and front seat belt with pre-tensioners, load-limiters and
height-adjustable upper mounts.
Tucson Elite ushers in an entirely higher level of safety in the compact SUV
sub-segment and in an Australian-spec Hyundai by also offering front seat side
airbags and cabin side curtain airbags.
All five seating positions have retractable sash/lap seatbelts and vertically
adjustable head restraints, those on the rear seat backs being wrapover low
profile designs for maximized rear vision. All three child seat tether strap
anchor points have their brackets already fitted ready for use under neat flap
covers in the floor immediately behind the rear seat back base where intrusion
into luggage space is minimized.
Tucson has been safety rated by the US NHTSA at five stars and internally
tested to EuroNCAP at four stars.
NVH insulation
To drive Tucson is to experience a new generation
level of refinement for a compact SUV. The car was conceived from the outset to
offer maximum insulation from NVH (noise, vibration and harshness). The rear
wheel arch panels and dashboard mounting panel incorporate a six-layer sandwich
system with vertical and horizontal reinforcements and padding. Insulating pads
were also used in most pillar connections, while special reinforcements and
curvatures were incorporated into the body floor to absorb vibrations. New
specially formed front and rear suspension components also further reduce
intrusive and unwanted noise.
In addition to extensive development on both induction and exhaust to reduce
engine noise, the adoption of a larger fan has helped reduced wind noise from
the cooling system. Lowered wind noise is also achieved by triple sealing of the
door frames using one turn sealed weather strip.
Environment
As are all current Hyundai models, Tucson was conceived
and built as an environmentally friendly vehicle. Not only does it come from
some of the cleanest production facilities in the world, but it offers an
eco-friendly V6 engine and an above average recycling rate, thus building
further upon Hyundai’s tradition of environmental concern.
As a company Hyundai is always striving to develop technology which brings
cars and nature closer together, as well as uniting people and nature so that
everyone can live in a healthier natural environment. The results of this
thinking can be seen in Hyundai’s environmentally friendly vehicle development
program, commitment to sustainable development and recycling and its deep
involvement in fuel cell alternative fuel research.
Hyundai’s FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle) program, which commenced in late
2000, was transferred from Santa Fe to Tucson at its outset so that engineering
development could proceed on the new car parallel with its mainstream
development. Tucson FCEV now has a 300km range and a top speed upped to 150kph
from the Santa Fe FCEV’s 124kph and brings Hyundai a step closer to its goal of
developing an affordable zero-emission vehicle based on fuel cell technology by
2010.
For all of these reasons it can be said that Tucson is a road oriented SUV, a
car which effortlessly fits everyday life, while adding the capacity for
sporting self-expression combined with meaningful off-road capability.
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